Wednesday, August 03, 2005
A weekend with a view
Canada has a great habit of having a day off (our version of a bank holiday) every month throughout the summer. There was one in June, one in July, and one last Monday (it's just called a ‘civic holiday’, because it's not to commemorate anything in particular, although different areas have given it their own names – very typical of Canada).
Anyway, it was a long weekend, and our friends Nick and Izzy were over from England, so we had a great time. Panoramic views featured heavily as we spent Sunday night up the CN Tower (Toronto's landmark, and the tallest freestanding structure in the world - incidentally, if a Canadian tests your general knowledge by asking you where the longest/ tallest/greatest/heaviest thing in the world is, the answer is always Canada. Every Canadian knows these statistics. Don't ask me why).
Anyway, it was a long weekend, and our friends Nick and Izzy were over from England, so we had a great time. Panoramic views featured heavily as we spent Sunday night up the CN Tower (Toronto's landmark, and the tallest freestanding structure in the world - incidentally, if a Canadian tests your general knowledge by asking you where the longest/ tallest/greatest/heaviest thing in the world is, the answer is always Canada. Every Canadian knows these statistics. Don't ask me why). [Above: Us up the CN Tower. Check out the view!!]
On Monday we climbed up the Niagara Escarpment in Grimsby. The views from there are phenomenal, and it’s 30 minutes’ walk from where we're going to live - !! The walking trail goes all the way along the Niagara Peninsula (about 2-3 hours’ drive), and is surrounded by lush forest most of the way. I can feel some serious treks coming on : )
On Monday we climbed up the Niagara Escarpment in Grimsby. The views from there are phenomenal, and it’s 30 minutes’ walk from where we're going to live - !! The walking trail goes all the way along the Niagara Peninsula (about 2-3 hours’ drive), and is surrounded by lush forest most of the way. I can feel some serious treks coming on : )
[Left: Joe enjoying the view. This is practically our back garden!
Below: Me and a view of Grimsby/Lake Ontario. Halfway between my left elbow and the right hand edge of the photo is a yellow dot. That's where the Grimsby News, one of my freelance papers, is]
Below: Me and a view of Grimsby/Lake Ontario. Halfway between my left elbow and the right hand edge of the photo is a yellow dot. That's where the Grimsby News, one of my freelance papers, is]
Anyway, enough of the rambling. On Tuesday it was back to the shelter in Hamilton (yup, life is pretty varied at the moment). I was chatting to someone I'd spoken to several times before, but I'd never realised he was an Indian (ie Native Canadian). Until I got to Canada, I thought all natives had long hair and weathered reddish-brown skin (I wasn’t quite naive enough to think they all lived in wigwams), but a lot of them just look Italian or Spanish.
Not only was he native, but this guy was also an Acadian. I'd actually read about the Acadians – they’re a mixture of native and French, who lived on the very east tip of Canada until the British colonised that part in about 1755 (history buffs can check out this website: http://collections.ic.gc.ca/acadian/english/toce/toce.htm). The British forced all the Acadians to leave, displacing about 10,000 people and ruining an entire culture. There’s now only about 600 of them left, and I was talking to one.
He was explaining his culture and traditions to me, and I was completely fascinated. This guy is usually pretty quiet and shy, and this was the first time I'd really seen him light up. It's those kind of times I really enjoy at the shelter : )
The poetry workshop was a bit of a disaster though. I’ve seen other people try to speak there, and usually most of their audience goes outside for a fag for the length of their talk. The same happened to me – I was down to five people before I even opened my mouth! : ) I guess not everyone wants to vent their feelings in verse, although one or two people seemed interested so you never know.
Anyway, I’m pretty knackered (still getting used to the early starts!) so I’ll be off now. I’ll try not to melt before my next blog (it’s 33 degrees here today!!).
Not only was he native, but this guy was also an Acadian. I'd actually read about the Acadians – they’re a mixture of native and French, who lived on the very east tip of Canada until the British colonised that part in about 1755 (history buffs can check out this website: http://collections.ic.gc.ca/acadian/english/toce/toce.htm). The British forced all the Acadians to leave, displacing about 10,000 people and ruining an entire culture. There’s now only about 600 of them left, and I was talking to one.
He was explaining his culture and traditions to me, and I was completely fascinated. This guy is usually pretty quiet and shy, and this was the first time I'd really seen him light up. It's those kind of times I really enjoy at the shelter : )
The poetry workshop was a bit of a disaster though. I’ve seen other people try to speak there, and usually most of their audience goes outside for a fag for the length of their talk. The same happened to me – I was down to five people before I even opened my mouth! : ) I guess not everyone wants to vent their feelings in verse, although one or two people seemed interested so you never know.
Anyway, I’m pretty knackered (still getting used to the early starts!) so I’ll be off now. I’ll try not to melt before my next blog (it’s 33 degrees here today!!).
